Fairy Tail's Corpse Bride
by ZombiesAteMyBrain13
Summary: Set in 19th century Fiore, this story follows Gray, a young man whisked away to the underworld and wed to a mysterious Corpse Bride while his real life bride waits bereft in the land of the living. Though life in the Land of the Dead proves to be a lot more colorful than his strict upbringing, Gray doesn't feel as if he belongs. This is a tale of optimism, romance and the afterlife
1. Chapter 1

"HERE YE! HERE YE! TEN MINUTES TO GO UNTIL THE FULLBUSTER-HEARTFILIA WEDDING REHEARSAL!" The town crier yelled out as he ran a bell, walking around through the center of town and right past the house of said young man who was suppose to be attending this wedding rehearsal...

* * *

Gray Fullbuster, a rather emotionless young man, sat alone in his room at his desk looking out of the window. In a cage, he had a small yellow canary; he was drawing it, getting every detail spot on perfectly. Once finished, he calmly opened his window, then the bird's cage, allowing it to fly outside. He gave a small grin as it flew away. Down below him, he saw his mother and his older brother standing there, and his mother looked quite aggravated.

"Gray! Come on now Gray, get down here!" His mother proclaimed, not realizing her youngest was looking down on her. He sighed, and closed the window. Taking a minute to think about what was going on today, he remembered, wedding rehearsal. He had to get married to some aristocratic young female that he had never even met before in his life because that's just how the time worked. Weddings were arranged, you had no say in who it was you got to marry, and it didn't matter if you knew them, or if you even loved them; it would have to happen eventually. He dreaded this. Gray would much rather spend all his time alone then with some girl he had never met before. He knew absolutely nothing about this girl besides the fact that her family was a wealthy aristocratic family. Things never really seemed to go his way anymore, not since his father died.

"GRAY!" His mother yelled again, bringing the young man back into reality.

"I'm... I'm coming!" He responded, not really sure if he wanted to do this or not. Actually, he had no say so, he had to do this against his own will. Why was life so difficult? Why couldn't people make their own choices? He didn't know, and it bothered him that he didn't.

* * *

At the Heartfilia Mansion, a young maid was helping a young lady with blonde hair pulled up in a bun get ready for today, for today was a special day, it was the young lady's wedding rehearsal. The maid began to work and started to tighten the young lady's corset. Now usually the young lady of the house was always so happy but today she just seemed to be so sad. As Virgo tightened the corset some more, the blonde let out a gasp, "Virgo, what if Gray and I don't..." her corset got tightened once again, "like each other?"

"Ha," her father stood in the young girl's doorway staring at her with his usual serious expression, "like that has anything to do with marriage Lucy. Do you honestly think that your mother and I liked each other?"

Lucy looked her father's way and offered a gentle smile, "surely you must have... a little."

The man laughed again, "of course not! Now Virgo get that corset laced properly. I can hear her speak without gasping." He then turned and walked away, leaving Lucy and Virgo alone.

* * *

He ran outside of his house and joined his mother and older brother outside by their carriage, who was driven by the family's butcher at their fish market, Wakaba.

"There you are," his mother said with a smile on her face.

"Yeah, here I am," his response showed no emotion, none.

"You don't seem too thrilled little brother, something going on?" Lyon, his older brother, asked.

"I just don't understand why I have to do this," he began saying as his family got into their carriage, "it's just that I've never met this girl and I have no idea what her name is. I understand that we've all gone through this however I don't feel as if anyone would want to marry me, I'm not outgoing like Lyon; I tend to enjoy being alone."

"Come now Gray," his mother's words reassured him, "you'll grow to love this girl. I understand that you may not think this is the right thing to do now but give it a few years, you'll think differently by then."

"Shouldn't this girl be marrying a lord or something?" Gray asked.

"Nonsense. We're every bit as good as the Heartfilia's. However I feel as if I deserved better than a fish merchant's wife."

Gray sighed, "but I've never even spoken to her."

"At least that's a plus," Lyon mumbled before being hit in the chest by his mother.

Gray simply drowned them out and looked out the small window on the door, watching all the scenery pass him by and he waved to all the people who waved to him. His family was well known around town so his marriage was no small thing. Everyone knew of it and of course they were excited for it, however Gray on the other hand didn't want this. Was their any way for him to get out of this? No, probably not. However, he was willing to bet anything that he could find a way. He wished he at least knew this girl instead of being set up with someone totally blind and possibly ended up with someone who was loony and not all there. He just sighed and shrugged it off like it was nothing. He did know one thing about her now though, her last name. Wakaba coughed and Ul, Gray's mother hit the carriage wall between her and him with her palm, "WAKABA! Silence your blasted coughing!"

* * *

His family arrived to a very old looking mansion. When a young butler opened up the door Ul was busy tucking in Gray's shirt and was criticising him on his terrible standing posture. The butler, named Leo, chuckled which got the woman's attention. She turned and gave a soft giggle. The three whom were standing outside entered the mansion slowly, looking around and taking in all of the details, "such grandeur! Such impeccable taste! Oh, beautiful, innit?" Ul chimed. Leo's eyes followed them and then he scoffed when they didn't thank him for opening the door.

"It's not as big as our place, looks a bit shabby really," Lyon mumbled under his breath.

Ul 'gently' hit him in the chest, "shut up."

Leo walked past them after he shut the door and he stood between the two families, "Lord Heartfilia," he gestured to the tall blonde man standing in front of the stairs, "Miss Ul Milkovich, Master Lyon Vastia, and the young Master Gray Fullbuster."

The blonde man raised an eyebrow. He wasn't expecting the boy his daughter was suppose to marry to come from a family with adopted children. It threw him off guard when Leo had introduced everyone with different last names. The young maid who was helping Lucy earlier in the day came running down the stairs. She had a bright smile on her face, she was actually the only thing in this house that looked bright and cheery.

"You must be Miss Lucy," Lyon smiled when she stopped before his family, "I must say you don't look like you're a day over twenty." Ul then proceeded to hit Lyon in the gut again with her fist. He let out a soft whimpering noise before composing himself again.

"My name is Virgo, I'm the Heartfilia's maid," the young girl said as she looked at Lyon. She then pulled all of her attention towards the master of the house, "sir, you should smile. Make them feel welcome in our lovely home."

The man twitched at the thought of smiling but the corners of his lips began twitching and he did eventually make a very frightening and forced smile appear on his face, "well hello. What a pleasure. Welcome to my home."

Ul smiled kindly back, "oh well thank you."

Virgo looked back at Ul and her family, "we'll be taking tea in the west drawing room. Oh, do come this way, it's just through there," she began walking towards a large door.

"Oh, I love what you've done with the place. Who is your decorator?" Ul asked cheerfully as she followed behind Lord Heartfilia, Virgo and Leo.

"Nice tiles," Lyon looked at the floor everyone was walking on before turning his attention to the windows, "shame about the drapes though."

Ul shot him a dirty look before smiling again at Lord Heartfilia, "my eldest says such foolish things. Just ignore him."

"Yes, that's usually best," Lyon shrugged as she stuffed his hands into his pockets and followed close behind.

Gray's eyes wandered and watched as everyone disappeared behind the large ornate door. Gray now stood alone looking awkward. He accidentally backs towards the piano in the center of the large entrance hall and sets his hand down on it, striking one note. He looks around, making sure no one heard the noise from the instrument, and then nervously he strikes another. He then proceeds to sit and slowly plays up a few notes, looking around again and theres still no one there. He starts to play. Lucy, still sitting in her room, hears the music coming from downstairs. It draws her interest and she leaves her room in an instant and walks out in the hall that lead towards the steps. She watched Gray play for a moment before she walked down the steps and inches towards him cautiously until she is directly behind him. Gray looks back at her absently and then he double takes, standing, slamming his hand on the piano keys and proceeds to knock the piano bench over.

"I... I... I do apologize, Miss Heartfilia. How rude of me to... Well..." he lifts the piano bench back into place before his eyes meet hers once more, "excuse me."

"Father won't let me near the piano. Music is improper for a young lady. Too passionate, he says," she offers him a small smile.

"If I may ask Miss Heartfilia... where..." he twists his tie and pulls at the collar of his shirt, "... where is your... chaperon?"

"Perhaps, in..." she places her hands behind her back, "...in view of the circumstances... you could call me Lucy."

"Yes of course. Well..." he was nervous about calling her by her first name. Was that proper? "...Lucy..."

"Yes, Gray?"

"To-tomorrow we are to be m... M... M..." he fiddled with his tie once more. That word just scared him to death.

"Married."

"Yes. M-married."

"Since I was a child, I've... I've dreamt of my wedding day. I always hoped to find someone I was deeply in love with. Someone to spend the rest of my life with. Silly, isn't it?"

He laughed nervously, "yes, silly." Realizing what he has said, he begins stammering with his words, "wait that's not right. I meant no. No. Not at all, no." He then attempts to lean his arm on the piano nonchalantly and then proceeds to knock over a small vase with a violet in it in the process, "oh, dear! I'm... I'm so sorry!"

Lucy simply smiles at him and picks up the flower from the vase and smells it absent mindedly before she looks shyly at Gray and offers him the flower. With a soft grin, he takes it from her slowly. The two of them both gaze at each other in a shy manner before he places the flower in his jacket pocket. The two of them had gotten awfully close to one another, something that wasn't allowed. They didn't even realize that the door everyone had entered earlier had opened.

"What impropriety is this?!" Lord Heartfilia bellowed. Gray and Lucy instantly jumped apart from one another, "you shouldn't be alone together! Here it is, one minute before five and you're not at the rehearsal. Pastor Neekis is waiting, now come at once."

* * *

At the church, the parents were seated in chairs located just behind the altar where two candles and two glasses of wine are set on either side of a Bible. Gray and Lucy stand before the altar each holding a candle, while Pastor Neekis is behind the altar. The man in front of the two young adults seemed so annoyed, "Master Fullbuster, from the beginning. Again! 'With this hand, I will lift your sorrows. Your cup will never empty, for I will be your wine. With this candle, I will light your way in darkness. With this ring, I ask you to be mine.' Let's try it again shall we?"

Gray nods, nervously, "yes. Yes sir. With this candle..." Gray holds his candle over the already lit candle to the right of the Bible in an attempt to light his however, it just won't light, "this candle..." he tries once more, this time seeming more aggravated than he already was. He sighed, "this candle..." finally! It was lite, but then the flame suddenly flickered out. Everyone let out a groan of frustration.

"Shall I get up there and do it for him?" Ul whispered to her eldest son to her right. Her whisper was still loud enough to be heard by everyone.

"Now now mom, don't get all aflutter," Lyon patted his mother on the hand.

Gray and Lucy had their eyes fixed on the two as they spoke back and forth. The Pastor was now getting more aggravated, "CONTINUE!" Gray and Lucy both looked back at him, "let's just pick it up at the candle bit..."

"Yes. Yes, sir. Certainly," Gray swallowed the lump that was forming in his throat. Without Gray realizing it, Lucy leaned in towards him and lit his candle with her own - already lit. Once his candle is lit, she leans back, taking her original position. Gray then proceeds to raise his left hand.

"Right," Pastor Neekis glares down at Gray in anger.

"Right," Gray then realizes that he has the wrong hand raised, "oh," instantly, he panics, throwing his candle into his left hand and then raises his right hand, "right! With this... This..."

"Hand..."

"With this hand..." Gray grabs Lucy's hand in his own and begins to walk forward, "... I... Will..." Gray then causes the two of them to bump into the altar, for he has taken one too many steps and he knew it too.

"Three steps!" The Pastor yells out in anger, "THREE! Can you not count? Do you not wish to be married Master Fullbuster?"

"No! No."

Lucy instantly looks at him, slightly horrified, "you do not?"

Knowing what he had said, he looks at her and begins to stammer again, "no! I meant, no, I do not not wish to be married. That is, I want very much to..."

Pastor Neekis rolls his eyes and then proceeds to hit Gray over the head with the Bible he was holding in his hands, "pay attention! Have you even remembered to bring the ring?"

"The ring?" Gray repeats, "the ring. Yes. Of course."

Lyon winks and gives Gray a quick thumbs up. Gray reaches into the front pocket on his jacket and pulls the ring out of it, however he removed it far too fast and accidentally tosses it behind him. Gray panics and gets down on his knees, trying to scoop it up in his palm as the ring bounces up every so often.

"Dropping the ring!" The Pastor yells out in anger.

"Oh, no, he's dropped the ring!" Ul cries out in shock, and somewhat in horror. Why was this happening to her right now?

"This boy doesn't want to get married!"

When the ring finally came to a stop, it rolled into the congregation seats. He dives for it, not realizing where it has gone, and proceeds to drop his candle in the process, "excuse me. I've got it." His candle had landed on the end of his mother's dress. The flame quickly begins to spread and instantly everyone begins to panic when they realize that she's on fire. Gray looks horrified and all he simply does is stare at the flame.

"Get out of the way, you ninny!" Mr. Heartfilia bellows as he knocks Gray backwards in order to stop the boy's mother from burning, and so she doesn't burn his house down.

"Can someone please get a bucket?!" Ul yells out in pure fear and horror as she has Lyon stomp on her dress in order to try and put out the flame. In a panic, Gray grabs a flute of wine from the altar and pours it on his mother's dress which does in fact put out the flame. Everyone has their eyes focused on him.

"Enough!" The now completely angered Pastor steps out from behind the altar, "this wedding cannot take place until he is properly prepared," he now pulls all of his focus to Gray who is backed up against a door, as if trying to avoid everyone's angry looks, "young man, learn your vows."

Gray attempts to back up even more if that were at all possible. Scared to death, he slams his hand against the large church door and reaches for the handle on the door. When he grabs hold of it, he grabs it and quickly flees the room. Lucy simply watches with a sad gleam in her eyes as she raises a hand up to her lips and bites down on one of her fingernails.

* * *

Gray had retreated to a small bridge on the outskirts of Magnolia. He twirls the ring around in between his fingers and looks down at the creek down below him. He sighs out of sadness, "oh, Lucy. She must think I'm such a fool," he sighs once more and runs his fingers through his hair, "this day couldn't get any worse."

He hears footsteps walking along the cobblestone roads in town so it pulls his attention towards sound, coming from the town crier. He knew that this was probably going to happen eventually, "hear ye, hear ye! Rehearsal in ruins as Fullbuster boy causes chaos! Fishy fiancé could be canned!" The town crier now looks towards Gray, not realizing who he is, "Heartfilias all fired up as Fullbuster disaster ruins rehearsal!" The town crier walks more into town still yelling and screaming - and of course ringing that damn bell of his - the news about the wedding rehearsal.

Gray sighs and walks off the bridge and enters into a forest, "it really shouldn't be all that difficult. It's just a few simple vows." He takes a deep breath and continues on his way, going deeper and deeper into the forest with every passing step, "with this hand, I will take your wine," his shoulders drop down and he lets out a sigh, "no. With this hand, I will cup your," he lifts his hands up to his chest and his hands are acting as women's breasts, he gasps, and jumps, quickly moving his hands, "oh, goodness, no." He sighs and continues walking, accepting his defeat with the words for the time being as he thinks them over, "with this... with this... with this candle, I will..." he sighs, remembering what had happened earlier, "I will set my mother on fire." He sits down on an old tree stump and places his hands over his face, defeated, "oh, it's no use." What made him think of this, he will never know, but he suddenly remembered the flower that he had received from Lucy earlier and he takes it from his jacket pocket, observing it. A soft smile creeps its way onto his face as he proceeds to take in the flowers sweet scent. His smile then widens as he stands and places the flower back into his jacket pocket. He now had the confidence that he needed all along, "with this hand," he raises his hand into the air, "I will lift your sorrows. Your cup will never empty, for I will be your wine," he then approaches the nearest tree that seemed to remind him of Lucy's father, "what's that Mr. Heartfilia? Call you 'Dad'? Well, if you insist sir. With this candle," he grabs a small twig and smiles gleefully as he makes it act like a candle, "with this candle, I will light your way in darkness." He instantly drops the twig and grabs the ring from his pocket, "with this ring..." he holds it in between his index and middle finger as he smiles proudly, "...I ask you to be mine." He places the ring on a tree branch before him. A crow from a tree branch above his head lets out an ominous cry. Gray begins to tense up as he reaches back towards the tree branch to receive his ring. As he grows closer, the tree branch twitches and grabs hold to his wrist. He struggles until he manages to break off whatever has the hold on him, only to his surprise it is a hand that simply tightens its grip around his wrist. He gasps and out of shock he falls back onto the ground. Suddenly, the ground below him begins to shake and there is a break appearing in the snow where the 'tree branch' was and a body is slowly crawling out of the ground. Gray's eyes widen in pure shock and horror and he blinks, as if he's seeing things. When the body is further out of the ground it is clear that it is a woman. She stands and steadies herself out as she pulls back her veil, the snow falls away from her, only to reveal that she is a corpse dressed in a tattered wedding gown.

"I do."

Gray, out of shock, stands and shakes the hand on his wrist free and runs into a tombstone in the small cemetery. He flips over it and falls on his back. He sits up, and shakes his head in order to try and clear his vision. He sees the corpse bride draw closer to him so he stands and continues to run through the trees heading back to the way he originally came from, trying to return back to town. This was all just a bad dream. He runs past a tree and his suit catches on it. Out of fear, he struggles to get his arm free and the lose branch that he was caught on snags his jacket, causing a small rip to appear. Too scared to care, he continues to run, not looking back behind him. His breathing increases and he can see the bridge coming into view. He's almost back to town, he's almost safe. Just a few more feet. His shoes make a clattering noise on the old wooden bridge when he finally steps on to it. He places his hands on his knees and begins gasping for air. Taking in one final breath, Gray composes himself and looks back into the woods. As he begins backing up, his back hits something. He turns and sees the corpse standing behind him. She pulls him close to her and he begins to tremble in her arms.

"You may kiss the bride," she draws closer to him, pulling him into a kiss. Gray's eyes widen as he gets closer and closer to this woman. What had he gotten himself into?

* * *

**Author's note:** Did you guys enjoy this? I sure did! I wanted to write something that was totally different and so unexpected. I decided to mix two of my favorite things together : anime and Tim Burton. I'm trying my hardest to make everything seem like the movie so if you've seen it I would love to know if you thought I did I good job capturing the movie in this chapter. I feel as if I did since I can pretty much recite the whole movie by heart but I'm just curious to know what everyone else thought. So leave your reviews and I'll update the next chapter next week. Love you all!


	2. Chapter 2

Gray had finally come to in some sort of bar, a bar that isn't at all familiar to him. When his vision finally becomes clear he sees corpses in various forms of decay crowded around two tables and a piano, all of them drinking and having a good time. Gray then realizes that he is slumped on the ground in the center of all the chaos and instantly a few corpses, the bride included, crowd around him while others seem to look their way, all the deceased with pints of liquor in the hands.

"A new arrival," one of them, the voice was female, cries out.

"He must've fainted," the bride helped him sit up as she looked into his eyes, "are you alright?"

"What..." Gray let his eyes roam around to take in the scenery before him, "what happened?"

"By God man! It looks like we have ourselves a breather!" A voice from somewhere called out.

"Ooohhh, does he have a dead relative?" A female voice from somewhere in the room as ks curiously. To be honest, his adoptive father was dead but Gray doubted he would be here.

A young male child approached Gray and begins to poke him with a stick, "he's not rotting!"

Somewhere behind him, a corpse stands up on a table, holding a glass of booze in her hand, "a toast then!" She smiled, "to the newlyweds!"

Everyone around raised their glasses in the air to toast and then happily begin drinking again. What is this place? Gray allowed his eyes to actually focus on the woman in front of him, his supposed bride, "newlyweds?"

The bride pulled her groom up to his feet, "mm. In the woods you said your vows so perfectly," she held out her hand and she shows him the ring as she moves her fingers back and forth.

"I did?" Now it was all beginning to make sense to him, "I did," he grabs hold of the bar and instantly begins hitting his head against the counter, "wake up! Wake up! Wake up!"

"Coming through, coming through," a lively young corpse with a bright smile makes her way through the crowd and back behind the bar. Gray lifts his head as his eyes are rolling from his head being hit one too many times against the hard surface, "hello there. My name is Mira and I'm head waitress. I shall be creating your wedding feast."

The bride places a hand on Gray's back and stares at him. He pulls his focus towards her just to be pushed back from her a little bit by a man with pink hair. Really? A man with pink hair? "A wedding feast huh? I'm salivating!"

Gray was now completely confused. What exactly is going on? Where exactly is he? Who exactly is he married to? Nothing seemed to make any sense to him at the moment but all he wanted were some god damn answers. He cautiously began to back away until he ran right into a red headed corpse with a sword at her side. Without thinking, he grabbed the sword and points it at everyone in front of him with shaking hands, "keep away!" The rightful owner of the sword then steps before him with her arms crossed as she snatches her sword away from him and places it back at her side, "I had... well, I had a sword!" He grabs the closest thing to him which just so happens to be a lone fork on the counter, "I've got... I've got.. I've got a fork! And I'm not afraid to use it! I want some questions now!"

"Answers," the brunette girl on the table, who made the toast earlier, behind him whispered in his ear, "I think you mean answers."

He glanced at her and nodded with a smile, but quickly made it disappear when he remembered the current situation at hand, "thank you, yes answers. I need answers. What's going on here? Where am I? Who are you?" He turns to face his supposed bride with worried eyes.

"Well," she twiddled her fingers together as she looked down at the ground, "that's kind of a long story."

"What a story it is!" A voice over by the piano hummed out. Everyone pulled their focus to a man dressed in a now tattered white suit, a white hat and a pair of sunglasses. The woman behind the bar let out a sigh but the man in the white continued to speak, "a tragic tale of romance, passion..." he drew closer to Gray, "and a murder most foul."

"This is going to be good," a young girl at his side clasped her hands together by her face and smiled. Gray instantly dropped the fork and lifted a leg in fear of the young corpse.

The man in the white suit walked back over towards the piano and the small stage, "hit it boys." He points over to a few men holding instruments. Music instantly begins to fill the room as the man takes his place behind the microphone and begins to sing, "give me a listen, you corpses of cheer. At least those of you who still can hear. I'll tell you a story that would make a corpse here cry. And it's of our own jubiliciously, lovely Corpse Bride!"

The others soon begin to clap and join the man singing the chorus of his song, "die, die, we all pass away. Don't wear a frown, 'cause it's really okay. You might try and hide, and you might try and pray, but we all end up the remains of the day. Yeah, yeah, yeah! Yeah, yeah, yeah!"

The crowd around Gray stops singing and they all pull their focus back to the man on stage who now has the bride standing next to him and his arm around her, "well, our girl was a beauty known for miles around. Then a mysterious stranger came into town. He was pretty good looking, but down on his cash, and our poor little baby, she fell hard and fast. But her daddy said 'no', and she just couldn't cope, so our lovers came up with a plan to elope." The lively gang of corpses joined in once again with the chorus, "yeah, yeah, yeah! Yeah, yeah, yeah!" Their clapping continues as the bar becomes a very wild party filled with various sounds from different instruments. Gray simply looks around, snapping his fingers occasionally and backing away slowly any time a corpse so much as came near him. Where was he? Suddenly, the singing started once again, "yeah, so they conjured up a plan to meet late at night. They told not a soul, kept the whole thing tight. Now her mother's wedding dress fit like a glove. You don't need much when you're really in love, except for a few things, or so I'm told; like the family jewels and a satchel of gold. Then next to the graveyard by the old Oak tree, on a dark foggy night at a quarter to three, she was ready to go, but where was he?"

Suddenly, everything went quiet for a moment before the red headed corpse with the sword approached him from behind, "and then?" Gray, caught off guard jumped about a mile high into the air and shuttered.

"She waited," the man in the torn white suit whispered, pushing the crowd closer to him, and Gray right into the bar.

Suddenly, the waitress from earlier, Mira right? Yeah, Mira, she approached Gray and now she and the red head whispered to him, "and then?"

"There in the shadows, was it her man?"

Another corpse joined the crowd around Gray, it was the pink haired man from earlier, "and then?"

"Her little heart beat soooooooo loud!"

Another corpse had now crowded around Gray, making him shrink down even more into his shirt, if that was even possible. This time the corpse was a blue haired man with some weird red mark around his right eye, blood maybe? "and then?"

"And then, baby, everything went black..." his voice trailed off and suddenly all of the lights in the bar began flickering on and off until they finally flickered out. It was dark for a matter of seconds before the lights flashed on, and the man singing was laying along the top of the piano and the whole crowd of corpses was gathered around the still living young man who was brought to this by a grave misunderstanding, "now when she opened her eyes, she was dead as dust. Her jewels were missing, and her heart was bust. So she made a vow laying under that tree, that she'd wait for her true love to come set her free," he jumped down off the top of the piano and walked towards Gray, placing his hands on the young man's shoulders. Gray shivered, "always waitin' for someone to ask for her hand, when out of the blue comes this groovy young man," the white suited man begins pushing Gray towards his bride, who was holding out one of her hands, as if she wanted him to take it, "who vows forever to be by her side," he then pushes Gray right into the bride's hands and the two begin to spin around and dance. Gray gasped out of fear, not really knowing what else there was for him to really do, "and that's the story of our Corpse Bride!" The man in white, who was now standing up on the stage, tips his hat and the stage light goes out, making it completely dark. When Gray and his bride suddenly come to a stop and he falls back into the crowd of people. Seeing this as a golden opportunity to get away, he stands and begins to mimic everyone's cheering behavior while slowly inching towards the steps that led up to a door. When he figured he was out of everyone's line of sight, he scurried away, only to be seen and followed by his lovely wife.

* * *

**Author's note**: Well, there ya go. I really hope that everyone enjoyed this chapter and I hope it did this part of the movie justice. This is just the start to Gray's adventures in the underworld and by the looks of things it seems to be very alive down there... so what'd you guys think? Love it? Hate it? Let me know in the reviews.


	3. Chapter 3

Lucy stood by a large window in her family's mansion's living quarters. It was now dark outside. She was nervous. Where was Gray?

"Lucy, come away from the window," her father called out to her.

The girl sighed before she turned to face her father and walked in his direction. She sat down on the chair that was seated next to a small table and to her father's right.

"I'm sure Gray will be back shortly," Ul spoke as she took a sip of her tea, "he's terrified of the dark. In fact, when he was a boy he use to wet his combinations regularly, didn't he Lyon?"

Lyon said nothing as he slouched down in his seat. His shoulders raised up to his ears as he allows his eyes to wander freely around the room. Suddenly, the door barged open and Leo stood there, panting.

"Leo, what on earth is wrong with you?" The blonde man asked as he sat up as quick as a flash.

"I thought I was seeing things while searching for young Master Fullbuster, but then the town crier proved me not wrong. I brought him here with me in order to repeat tonight's headline. Come in, quickly," he motioned for the man to enter the room. As the town crier looked at everyone, Leo spoke again, "would you like to repeat tonight's headline for us?"

"Hear ye, hear ye!" His voice echoed through the room as he rang that blasted bell back and forth. Every cup of tea and dining wear in the room was shaking, "Gray Fullbuster seen this night on the bridge in the arms of a mystery woman! The dark-haired temptress and Master Fullbuster slipped away into the night! And now, the weather, scattered showers-"

"That's enough, that's enough!" Leo cut him off, "thank you sir." He then showed the man the way out of the home, exiting the room and leaving the two families sitting once again, alone.

"Mystery woman? He doesn't even know any women," Ul placed her teacup down on the small table before her.

"Or so you thought," Lucy's father spoke rather harshly, "I'm getting my musket."

"Oh, Lyon, do something!"

"Look," Lyon spoke up, adjusting himself in his chair, "the town crier probably just had a slow news day. You know how it is, you need a little something to cry about."

"Regardless," the man spoke up once more, still angry and his voice harsh, "we're still one groom short for the wedding tomorrow!"

"Just give us a chance to find him," Lyon wasn't backing down. This man was NOT going to intimidate him and that was a fact, "just give my mother and I until dawn."

"Very well," the man scoffed at the young man, "till dawn."

* * *

Looking around through the small dead town, the bride was looking down all the small alleyways she passed, "Gray, darling, where are you?"

"If you ask me," a young lady with short white hair approached her from behind and placed an arm around her shoulder, "your boyfriend is kind of jumpy."

The bride quickly removed the white haired girl's arm from around her shoulders and stared at her, "he's not my boyfriend, Lisanna, he's my husband." The girl smiled softly before returning to her task at hand, "Gray, where've you gone?"

"I'll keep an extra eye out for him," her friend, Lisanna, was now joining in on her search. She looked the way that the bride was not, incase this sneaky little man was already in a place she had looked.

"Gray?"

Out of the corner of Lisanna's eye she sees him running up a set of stairs, "there he goes, there he goes! He's... he's getting away! Quick, quick, after him!" Lisanna pulls Juvia towards her, spinning her around and pushing her towards the way Gray was running.

"Gray. Gray? Gray!" He came into her view and she lit up with a smile as she began to run towards him.

Gray was horrified. How the hell did this woman find him?! He was being SNEAKY! He just didn't want to question it any longer so he picked up the pace and continued to run.

"Gray! Gray, darling!"

She was getting closer to him. Seriously? HOW?! Was she like floating on thin air or something because he was running as fast as his legs would carry him. "This is a mistake," he told himself, "I'm... I'm not dead!" He was so involved in running that he face planted into the side of a hile, oomph... "dead end..." he looked up and realized that his only option at this point was to begin to climb, and so he did. He began climbing up the side of the hill before him as if he were rock climbing for his life. Out of breath, he finally reached the top of the hill. He reached forward and grabbed hold onto something, quickly realizing that it was a leg... _her_ leg. _SHIT!_

"You could have used the stairs, silly," she smiled cheerfully as she grabbed his arm and helped him up. He composed himself and looked at her as he dusted all the dirt off of his jacket and pants, "isn't the view beautiful? It takes my breath away," she laughed slightly, "well, it would if I had any." She looked at him, her smile beaming, "isn't it romantic?"

Gray sighed, "look, I am terribly sorry about what's happened to you and I'd like to help but I really need to get home."

"This is your home now."

"But I don't even know your name."

She sighed, "such a great way to start a marriage..." she allowed her eyes to meet his as she smiled once more, "it's Juvia."

"Juvia," Gray's voice was soft as he repeated her name. _Such a pretty name..._

"Oh, I almost forgot. I have something for you," she sat down at a nearby bench and patted the empty space next to her. He sat down and looked at her. She handed him a relatively large box, "it's a wedding present," she whispered to him.

Cautiously, Gray shook the box back and forth gently. Juvia bit down on her knuckles gently as she observed Gray's sudden action. He opened the box and pulled out a bone. Just a single bone, and the look on his face was one that no one could ever repeat in their whole life. It was a mixture between shock and horror, and pure disgust. What was this woman getting at with him?! Suddenly the box on his lap began to shake. He tossed the bone back down and slammed the lid of the present back down, throwing all of his weight on top of it but that wasn't enough, it fell onto the ground and a bunch of different bones rolled out and suddenly, they reassembled themselves to form the skeleton of a dog. The little creature let out a bark before it grabbed a collar off the ground, jumped up on the bench that the new couple was sitting on, and placed the item that it had in its mouth into Gray's hand. Gray looked at the tag on the collar and his eyes lit up with a certain gleam of joy, "Surge?" The small dog barked at him in happiness when his owner's face lit up. "Surge! My dog, Surge!" Gray instantly began scratching the dog's head and his back leg begins to move back and forth in happiness, "oh, Surge, what a good boy!"

Juvia smiled sweetly and watched as the two bonded with one another after all those years of being apart, "I knew you'd be happy to see him."

The dog, Surge, jumped down from his owner's lap and back onto the ground, "who's my good boy?" The dog barked and ran around in a small circle, "sit. Sit, Surge, sit." The dog sat down and Gray smiled, "good boy, Surge. Roll over. Roll over," Gray moved his index finger around in a circular motion. The dog watched his finger for a moment before he did as he was instructed to do, "good boy, Surge. Play dead." The dog looked at him and made a soft confused noise as he tilted his head to one side, looking at his owner as if saying 'really? Play dead?' Gray bit his lip after he realized what he said, "sorry."

The dog jumped back up on his owner's lap and began licking his face. Juvia rubbed the dog on the his spine, "he's such a cutie."

Gray laughed. That was the first time that Juvia's actually heard him laugh and it was actually the first time he had laughed in years, "you should've seen him with fur." Gray then gently pushed the dog away from him and looked rather sad, "my mother never approved of Surge jumping up like this," he sighed, "but then again, she never really approved of anything."

Juvia looked at Gray with sad eyes, "do you think she would have approved of me?"

"You're lucky you'll never have to meet her. Well, actually..." he placed the dog back down on the ground and then looked at her, "now that you mention it, I think you should." He stood up in determination, and a plan formulating in his head, "in fact, since we're, you know... married, you should definitely meet her, and my brother too! We should go see them right now."

"What a fantastic idea! Where are they buried?"

Gray looked down at the ground and let out another soft, sad sigh.

"What?" Juvia grabbed one of his hands and looked at him with worried eyes, "what is it?"

"They're not from around here."

"Where are they?"

Gray pointed up above the two of them.

"Oh, they're still alive," Juvia understood what he meant.

"I'm afraid so."

"Well, that is a problem."

The dog on the ground began to bark and run around in circles. Both of them looked down at the tiny animal skeleton.

Juvia proceeded to kneel down to be closer to the dog's height before she spoke, "what's that, Surge?" The dog barked a few times at her, "oh, no, we couldn't possibly." The dog barked a few more times and then proceeded to paw at her leg, "oh, well, if you put it like that." She stood back up and looked over at Gray, who had a rather confused look on his face. She was just talking to his dog and she understood everything the dog was saying through barks. How?

"What?" He asked as he raised one of his brows.

"Elder Makarov."

* * *

They arrived at an older looked tower that was on the outskirts of their lively little town of the dead. Juvia led the way with Surge at her heels as she walked up the numerous stairs to finally reach the top of the tower where the Elder resided. Surge let out numerous little yippy barks, and Juvia shushed him instantly, "shh, Surge. Elder Makarov... are you there?" She looked around, "hello? Is anyone home?"

"Hello?" Said an older man's voice. Juvia's eyes instantly shot in the direction the voice was coming from and she saw the old man exiting a room.

"There you are!"

The old man squinted his eyes a bit and looked at the young lady before him, "oh, my dear. There you are."

"I've brought my husband, Gray."

The old man seemed a bit shocked, and confused, but he smiled happily, "what's that? Husband?"

Gray cupped a hand around his mouth, as if trying to make his voice seem louder for the old man without actually yelling, "pleasure to meet you, sir."

"We need to go up," Juvia spoke bluntly, "upstairs. To visit the land of the living."

"Land of the living?" The old man asked her in a confused tone, "oh, my dear."

"Please Elder Makarov," she was begging now.

"Now, why go up there, when people are dying to get down here?"

"Sir, I beg you to help," Gray chimed in his voice, "it means so much to me..." he looked over at Juvia, who looked back at him with a smile, "us."

"I don't know, it's just not natural."

"Please, Elder Makarov. Surely there must be something you can do?" She was begging and pleading with him again as she grabbed his hand in her own.

"Let me see what I can do," with his free hand, he patted her on the hand that was holding his other one before he pulled both hands away and walked over to his messy bookshelves, "where did I put that book?" He began rummaging through so many books, throwing them over his head and on several occasions almost hitting Gray, Juvia, and Surge in the head. The dog quickly hid under the old man's desk to seek protection, "I left it here somewhere," he looked over a few more bookshelves and finally smiled when he found what he was looking for, "there's the one." He grabbed the beaten up red velvet book off the shelf and walked back over to his desk that the young couple stood in front of, " I have it. The Fairy Glitter spell. Just the thing for these quick trips."

Juvia grabbed hold of Gray's arm and pulled him close to her. He was still uncomfortable being so close to her, let alone really being around her, "I'm so glad you thought of this," she whispered in his ear. He could tell that she was smiling.

"Me too," Gray gulped down the lump in his throat. He was playing a dirty game with this girl, a game that she wasn't aware of yet. He felt bad, but at the same time hr felt like this was the right thing to be doing.

"Now, then..." the old man quickly took a drink from a Champagne flute and burped, covering his mouth, "where were we?"

"The Fairy Glitter spell?" Juvia offered back to him with a smile

The old man opened the book, flipping through all of the pages one by one until he found exactly what it was he was looking for, "here we have it. Ready? Just remember, when you want to come back, say 'hopscotch.'"

"Hopscotch?" Juvia laughed slightly as she smiled.

"That's it," the old man grabbed a small vile of what looked like a container of gold glitter, and poured it over the two as a gold smoke cloud. The two quickly vanish into thin air.

* * *

**Author's note**: Ta-da! Another chapter done! I really hope everyone is enjoying this story so far. I'm trying to channel the movie as much as I can without changing it too much but I'm also trying to make it flow with the Fairy Tail world, which, if you haven't noticed, is what is basically the Land of the Dead, so alive (just like the guild itself). Love it? Hate it? Let me know with your reviews and I'll be back again next week.


	4. Chapter 4

Both Gray and Juvia arrived in the graveyard where the two first met each other. There were several crows hanging out on multiple tree branches just looking at them with their tiny little black beady eyes. Juvia just seemed so fascinated with everything, "I've spent so long in the darkness, I'd almost forgotten how beautiful the moonlight is." She began to dance and twirl around while Gray simply watched. She twirled around him a few times and he couldn't help but smile at her. She just seemed so happy, and so full of life. He simply wanted to return here for his own selfish reasons, but he very well couldn't explain that to the cheerful woman before him, "hold on, hold on," he spun around once with her before he sat her down on a tree stump behind him, "I think I should prepare my mother and brother for the big news. I'll go ahead and you wait here."

"Perfect," she smiled.

"I won't be long," he backed away behind her, "stay right here. I'll be right back."

"Okay."

"No peeking," he was backing away at a quicker pace than before. When he found himself to be a safe distance away from her, he turned his back to her and ran off towards town.

* * *

"If ever I see that Fullbuster boy I'll strangle him with my bare hands," Jude Heartfilia spoke in his usual tone as he slammed a window shut just as Gray appeared a few inches away from it. He bit his lip.

"But Lord Heartfilia," Virgo spoke up in her soft tone, "your hands are too fat and his neck is too thin."

"You could use a rope," Leo grinned deviously as he adjusted his glasses on the bridge of his nose.

Gray was scared. He began backing away slowly and started to look for another way in, and that's when the answer hit him, well more along the lines of got tangled up with him. There were vines growing on a wall that seemed as if they led to the room of the person he wanted to see, so he began climbing.

* * *

"It's taking him a while," Juvia sighed out, "maybe I should... no! You promised Gray you would stay here!" She sighed once more and then stood, "maybe I should go check up on him. I'm sure he has a perfectly good reason for taking so long," and with that, she set off after his footprints that had been left in the snow.

* * *

Lucy was sitting in front of her small fireplace working on a quilt. Thud. She turned her head around and stood as she saw him standing, a smile lighting up her face. Gray gave her a small wave as she walked over to the glass doors that led out to her small balcony.

"Lucy," he gave a half smile and a sigh.

"Gray? I'm so happy to see you," she smiled and grabbed his hand, pulling him inside, "come by the fire," she sat down on her small couch and he sat next to her with no objections being made, "where have you been? Are you alright?"

"I... I... Oh, dear," he sighed and looked down at his feet.

Lucy placed a hand on his own, only to quickly remove it, "you're as cold as death," her voice was filled with worry, "what's happened to you?" She then saw the rip in his coat, "and your coat."

"Lucy, I confess," he sighed and finally looked her in the eyes, "this morning I was terrified of marriage. But then, on meeting you, I felt I should be with you always, and that our wedding could not come soon enough."

"Gray, I feel the same."

The two began to lean in for a kiss, but that's when Gray saw her coming up the balcony. He gasped and Lucy went to turn her head to look and see what was wrong but Gray was quicker than her. He cupped her cheeks in his hands, "Lucy, I se... I se... I seem to find myself married. And you should know it's unexpected."

She looked shocked but the glass door opened and a fierce wind rolled in, "my darling, I just wanted to meet..." and that's when Juvia saw Lucy. She grew furious, and sad all at the same time, "darling?" She grabbed on to Gray's arm tightly and pulled him up off the couch, "who's this?"

"Who is she?" Lucy stood in shock.

"I'm his wife," she held out her left hand and wiggled her fingers around, showcasing her wedding band to the blonde.

"Gray?" Lucy shot him a confused, and also horrified, look. Was this for real right now?

"Lucy, wait. You don't understand. She's dead, look," Gray grabbed hold of one of Juvia's arms and waved it around to show Lucy that her skin had started to decay away in some places, as if the blue haired bride being dead was seriously that much of a no brainer to figure out.

Juvia shot Gray a look of death and hatred. She quickly pulled her hand away from him and grabbed onto him tightly, "hopscotch," she said angrily. The wind whistled and the two were being pulled backwards by some sort of invisible rope.

"No! No! Lucy!" Gray reached forward as if to grab onto Lucy's hand but it was too late. He was already too far away, and the gold smoke from before began to surround him. Damn.

* * *

They had reappeared back in the old tower where they had left before going on their journey. The old man was still over by his desk fiddling around with whatever he had over there. Surge was laying at the old man's feet and the dog's tail began to move back and forth like crazy when he saw his master had returned back to him. Once the smoke finally cleared away from the two, Juvia let her fury run free.

"You lied to me!" She pushed him away from her. He stumbled backwards and almost fell but he caught himself just in time, "just to get back to that other woman." "Don't you understand? You're the other woman," Gray responded back to her, keeping his voice calm and collected. He didn't want to do anything to anger her any further. All he wanted to do was to work this whole situation out in a civilized manner, just like his mother had taught him.  
"No! You're married to me! She's the other woman," Juvia began to cry. How could she not though? Her husband did, in fact, lie to her just to return back to his home in order to see some blonde.  
"She's got a point," Makarov added in, even though he didn't look at the two of them once.  
"And I thought..." she was crying a bit harder than before now. She couldn't help herself, "I thought this was all going so well."  
"Look, I'm sorry, but this just can't work," he approached her calmly as he held out a hand as if he wanted to reassure her. She wouldn't have it. She batted his hand away from her and then averted her eyes to look elsewhere.  
"Why not?" "Listen, under different circumstances, well, who knows? But we're just too different. I mean, you're dead." He was being blunt about it but he was also trying to keep his words kind so he didn't upset her any more. She was already crying, and to be honest, Gray had a very difficult time dealing with crying women. "You should've thought about that before you asked me to marry you."  
"Why can't you understand? It was a mistake. I would never marry you."

She shot her eyes back up at him. Her bottom lip quivered and her eyes became even more sad. As she tries to think of something to say to him, she simply can't do it. Instead, she lets out a sigh and walks right past him, heading down the steps of the tower. Surge looked at her, and then to Gray, and then back to Juvia before he decided to followed the saddened bride. Gray stood there, alone and so confused. Now what?

* * *

**Author's note**: Another chapter done. Am I still doing the movie justice? I really hope I am, I would hate to screw up writing about a movie I love with an anime that I also love. So tell me, is Gray being a horrible person to Juvia? Love it? Hate it? Just leave those reviews and let me know. I shall once again return next week with chapter five.


	5. Chapter 5

Juvia had wandered off to the town and isolated herself from everyone. All she wanted to do was be along for a while. Gray had hurt her feelings, made her feel worthless and unwanted and unloved. All she simply wanted was to be happy. It felt as if he ripped her heart out and broke it up into thousands of little pieces. Why did he have to be so cruel with his words? And why did he find it necessary to lie to her? He was married to her! Juvia sat down on a small casket bench in the small park. Instantly, she threw her veil aside. She looked at the bouquet of flowers she had in her hands, "Roses for eternal love," she pulled out a few of the roses, "Lilies for sweetness," and now a few of the lilies, "Baby's breath," and finally some of the small decorative flowers. After looking over her bouquet once more, she threw it away from her and they landed over by the veil she had thrown from her head earlier. Surge simply looked at the two items, and then back to her.

"Why so blue?" The redheaded swordswoman asked as she walked past the bride. She stopped to look at her before taking a seat next to her and placing a hand on her back.

"Maybe he's right, Erza," Juvia answered, even though her friend had absolutely no idea what she was talking about, although she could probably take a simple guess, "maybe we are too different."

"Maybe he should have his head examined," a black haired man, the man who was singing earlier in the bar, instantly chimed in from behind the two girls on the bench, "I could do it."

"Gajeel," Erza smacked him in the chest as she looked at him, "Juvia's upset. We shouldn't joke about something like this.

"I'm not joking, Erza."

"Or perhaps he does belong with her, Little Miss Living," Juvia said the nickname she had now given to Lucy in a mocking tone, "with her rosy cheeks" Juvia placed a hand up to her cheeks, "and beating heart," she then placed a hand over her heart only to feel no heartbeat.

"Oh, those girls are ten a penny," Erza scoffed and crossed her arms, "you've got so much more. You've got... You've got..." she looked at Gajeel for a moment. He shrugged, but then Erza thought of something, "you've got a wonderful personality."

Juvia pulled all of her attention to her friend. What exactly was she going on about?

"What does that wispy little brat have that you don't have double?" Gajeel spoke to her as he placed a hand on her shoulder.

"She can't hold a candle to the beauty of your smile," Erza smiled at her friend. Juvia didn't smile, she only faked it as if she was trying to make her two friends feel better about themselves.

"How about a pulse?" The bride asked as she turned her back to the redhead.

"Overrated by a mile," she responded.

"Overvalued," Gajeel added on.

"Overblown," Erza added on something else, "if he only knew the you that we know."

"And that silly little creature isn't wearing his ring," Gajeel grinned at her. His statement did in fact make her feel a little bit better. Not a lot, but a little.

"And she doesn't play piano," Erza moved out of her original spot on the bench to look at the blue haired young lady.

"Or dance," Gajeel pointed out.

"Or sing," Erza stated another good point.

"No, she doesn't compare," Gajeel knew that to be true. Juvia was one in a million

"But she still breathes air!" Juvia pointed out, and turned away from Erza once again. Her last statement was something that she was aware of. Gray still did have to breathe since she knew that he himself wasn't dead like all the others in this world.

"Who cares?" Gajeel questioned her. He jumped over the bench and sat down next to her on the right, and Erza returned to her spot on the left which of course made Juvia face her once more, although her head was down.

Juvia finally looked at the two of them with sadness brewing in her large ocean blue eyes, "if I touch a burning candle, I can feel no pain. If you cut me with a knife it's still the same. And I know her heart is beating. And I know that I am dead. Yet the pain here that I feel, try and tell me it's not real. And it seems that I still have a tear to shed."

"The sole redeeming feature from that little creature is that she's alive," Erza rolled her eyes in totally annoyance.

"Everybody knows that's just a temporary state," Gajeel began, "which is cured very quickly when we meet our fate."

"I feel my heart is aching, though it doesn't beat, it's breaking," Juvia started up again as she held her hands closer to her chest. She had started to lose it again, for she leaned towards Erza and began crying into her shoulder. Both the swordswoman and the black haired man rubbed her back and reassured her that everything was going to be okay.

* * *

Lucy was now face to face with her father, maid, and butler. Her hair wasn't all neat and tidy in it's usual bun. No. Strands of loose hair were now clinging to her face thanks to all the sweat that was on her face. The poor girl had become an absolute wreck after witnessing Gray being pulled away, "it's true, father! Gray is married to a dead woman. I saw her. A corpse! Standing right here with Gray." She pointed to the floor below her to show where Gray was standing and where the corpse was standing just moments earlier.

"Gray was in your room?" Her father sounded furious to hear of such news. They weren't married! That was UNACCEPTABLE!

"I have to help him," Lucy was begging now. She began to tremble and shake as she fought back all of the tears that she had swelling in her eyes.

"The scandal!"

"Come sit in your chair, miss," Virgo grabbed Lucy's hand and patted it gently in between her own, "you're shaking like a leaf. Let me fetch you a blanket."

Lucy's father grabbed the maid's arm and pulled her away from his daughter, "fetch her a straightjacket! She's completely mad!" He pulled the young pink haired girl from his daughter's room as he kept his eyes glued to the distraught girl, "come Leo." The young butler nodded and exited the girl's room, shutting and locking the door from the outside behind him. Lucy was now left alone. It was raining outside now, and it was a bad storm. Lucy backed up and a crack of lightning lit up the sky. She was locked in... well, or so she thought anyway. She looked at the quilt she had been working on earlier and that's when her brilliant idea came to her. She grabbed the blanket and then ran over to her window, opening it quickly and draping the blanket over the little balcony and trying it to the balcony itself before she began to shimmy down. Halfway to the ground she could hear the blanket about to tear. She looked up with a worried face and that's when it happened. The blanket tore in half and she dropped down to the ground. She landed on her feet, thankfully, and the blanket fell perfectly on her body as if acting like a shawl to keep her dry and also hid her face from anyone who may still be wandering around the town at this hour of the night.

* * *

Swiftfully, she made her way towards the small church and began banging the large door knocker against the large wooden church door.

"What in heaven's name?" The Pastor inside the church scratched his head as he walked towards the door, the banging echoing inside, "who could that be at this hour?" He opened up the door and was a tad shocked to see the person that he saw before him, "Miss Heartfilia. What are you doing here? You should be at home, prostrate with grief."

"Pastor Neekis, I have to ask you something," she seemed out of breath as she spoke to him.

"This is most irregular," he went to shut the door but she pushed it back open and walked inside.

"Please, I beg of you," she interlocked her fingers with one another, as if she was begging him, well actually, she was, "you are the only one in the village who knows of what awaits beyond the grave."

"A grim topic for a bride-to-be."

"It is a bride I fear, which is why I must know: can the living marry the dead?" A clash of thunder was heard and a bolt of lightning was seen coming from behind her as the rain continued to fall.

"What on earth are you speaking about?" He seemed slightly horrified by her at this moment.

"Please, it's Gray. He's married to a corpse. He has a corpse bride!" She was frantic with her words, "there must be some way to undo what's been done." Now she seemed so desperate and so in need of help.

"I believe I know the thing to do," he looked at her, "come with me." He licked his thumb slightly and using that and his index finger, he extinguished the flame coming from the wick of the candle he was holding.

* * *

"Miss Lucy!" Leo cried out when he saw the young girl standing in the rain, struggling to break free of the Pastor's grip on her shoulders.

"Where are your corsets?" The maid behind him asked in a hushed tone.

"She's speaking in tongues. Of unholy alliances. Her mind has come undone I fear," the man spoke, actually preached, to the butler.

"It's not true! Let me go! Let me go!" She struggled until she broke free, only to be grabbed on the elbow by her father's grip.

"Thank you, Pastor Neekis. Thank you so very much," her father spoke as he pulled her inside the house, Leo shut the door once the girl was out of the rain. The man let go of her arm rather quickly, pushing her back a bit into the closest chair, "take her to her room!"

"No, I'm telling the truth. Gray needs my help. Virgo," she looked at the maid who was to her right, "you believe me don't you? Father, please."

"Seal the doors and bar the windows. See to it that she doesn't escape again."

"He needs our help! Oh, let me go! Let me go!" Her voice became softer as the help had managed to get her down the hall, of course with a lot of struggling coming from the young lady.

"It'll be years before I can show my face in public again," the Master of the home sat down in a chair, pouring himself a small class of whisky, and began to drink.

* * *

Gray's mother and brother were riding in their carriage, still looking for their missing family member. As each second passed them by they began to feel more nervous.

"It's almost dawn," Ul sighed out as she glanced out the window, "where can he be?"

"Gray Fullbuster elopes with corpse..." the town crier began to yell out.

"Did he say corpse?" Lyon asked as he raised a brow. He looked at his mother with a dumbstruck look plastered on his face.

"Oh, don't be ridiculous. What corpse would marry Gray?" Ul asked.

Suddenly Wakaba began coughing violently. He hit his chest, like he usually did to stop, but the coughs just seemed to keep coming.

"Oh, Wakaba!" Ul began beating on the thin fabric that separated her from him, "silence that blasted coughing!"

His coughing continued, only getting more violent as the time passed by. Then that's when it happened. Suddenly the man fell forward and the horse drawn carriage simply went right over him.

"Wakaba, are you trying to kill us?" Ul hit the fabric once more before she crossed her arms and looked at Lyon, "I think he's trying to kill us."

* * *

Juvia was sitting alone at the piano that resided in the small bar called Fairy Tail, as Gray had learned. Gray bit his bottom lip as he entered the bar and slowly walked towards her. She glanced up at him, and then glanced back at the piano keys with an angry gleam in her eye.

"I..." he sat down next to her and tried to smile, "...think you dropped this," he held her bouquet of flowers out to her. She didn't acknowledge him at all so he simply placed them on top of the piano. "I'm sorry," he let out a sigh, "I'm sorry I lied to you about wanting to see my family."

She looked at him.

"It's just this whole day hasn't gone quite, well..." he shrugged a little bit, "according to plan."

She smiled a little bit at him, "pardon me for being angry," she showed him her usual smile.

"All's forgiven."

Suddenly the small little room that was empty minus the two was soon filled with all the chaos of Fairy Tail. Gray looked to the right to see all the people piling in, and Juvia looked to the left to see the exact same thing happening over there.

"We've got a new arrival!" Mira cheered loudly, "new arrival!"

"Lights up!" Natsu, Gray had learned that was the pink haired man's name, shouted.

"Another pint Cana?"

"Nah, just a half," the brunette corpse said with a burp as she smacked her mug down on the counter.

"Welcoming committee, coming through! Coming through!" Erza began pushing past everyone to reach the newbie to the Land of the Dead. When she finally reached the new arrival, she held out her hand, "my name's Erza, Erza Scarlet."

Although Gray was only seeing the new arrival's back, the clothes and body structure of this man just seemed awfully familiar to him, "Wakaba?" Slowly, Gray began to walk towards him. That's when Gray knew it was him for sure, "Wakaba! How nice to see..." the man turned and it left Gray in shock. He was dead, "I'm so sorry."

"Oh, yeah. Actually, though I feel great," Wakaba responded as he took a puff from his pipe.

"Here you are sir," Mira placed a drink down before him, "you must be parched."

Wakaba accepted his drink with a smile and turns all of his attention back to the young groom.

"Wakaba, I have to get back. They all must be worried sick. How is everyone?"

"Well," he took a sip of his drink, "they're still wondering where you slipped off to," he took another puff of his pipe, "oh, and Miss Lucy..."

"Yes? Yes, how is she?"

"Well, she's not doing too well."

"What?"

"Ever since you slipped off she's been losing her mind. Terrible really."

"Impossible."

"Time to pick up the pieces and, you know, move on, I suppose."

Slightly angered and sad all at once, Gray began walking towards the exit of the small bar. Lucy was going insane because he was missing? Or was it because he had accidentally gotten married to the corpse bride? Either way, he didn't really know. Juvia's eyes followed his movements. When he reached the door, that's when she cried out to him, "Gray? Where are you going?"

* * *

**Author's note**: So... did you enjoy this chapter? Lucy is very concerned for Gray's well-being but other people just won't believe her when she says he's married to a corpse, no matter how true it may be! Things are actually about to get very interesting soon enough. I know the chapters are long but I'm trying to follow the movie and cover a lot of information by showing you both Lucy and Gray and Juvia. At the rate this is going, this might not be too much longer really. Anyway, did you guys love it or hate it? Let me know with your reviews.


	6. Chapter 6

Lucy was locked away in her room. She had used a fire poker to attempt to break away her door but all of her actions were getting her absolutely nowhere. Her balcony door was locked, much like everything else. Food was delivered to her when she was use to being fed, and she had to basically tend to herself seeing as her father pretty much had her on lockdown. He wasn't going to let her spread all this silly nonsense about Gray marrying a corpse all over town and embarrass the Heartfilia name even more than she had already proceeded to do.

"Gray," she mumbled to herself as she stared out the window, "please come back to me." A lone tear rolled down her cheek.

* * *

Gray was sitting by a few shops, the only one that he could figure out what it was was the bakery, and he was holding the now dead violet in his hand that Lucy had given to him when the two had first formally met each other. That seemed like so long ago, "oh Lucy, I'm sorry." He whispered softly to himself as he dropped the dead flower to the ground. He stood up, but something in the bakery caught his eye. The door was open just a tad so he peered inside, only to see Juvia sitting on a chair speaking with Erza.

"Oh, Erza, what am I to do?" Juvia asked with a confused tone of voice, "he just walked off without saying a word. Are all men like this?"

"Well, I'm afraid none of them are very bright," Erza put a forkful of what appeared to be strawberry cake into her mouth, "they get something stuck in their heads and you can't do a thing with them."

A door on the inside of the bakery opened up and in walked Elder Makarov, who was holding the red velvet book that Gray had seen when he sent him and Juvia back to the Land of the Living, and a tall blonde gentlemen, "my dear," he approached Juvia. The bride looked at him, "we have to talk."

"Hey gramps why don't you let me tell her?" The young blonde man spoke.

"What?" Juvia asked, puzzled.

"There is a complication with your marriage."

"I don't understand."

"The vows are binding only until death do you part."

Juvia raised a brow and looked at the old man, "what are you saying?"

"Death has already parted you."

"If he finds out, he'll leave," she mumbled softly to herself as she looked away before she shot her head back to look at the old man, "there must be something you can do."

"Well there is one thing," the old man seemed worried, as if he didn't want to say what he was about to tell her.

"Oh come on gramps! Let me tell her," the blonde man pleaded once more.

"It requires the greatest sacrifice,"

"Come on already and get to the good part!"

"What is it?" Now Juvia sounded mortified, as if she was afraid to know herself.

"We have to kill him," the blonde spat out with a rather malicious grin spread across his face.

"What?!" That was the last thing Juvia wanted to hear.

"Gray would have to give up the life he had forever," Makarov set the book down before her and turned a few pages, "he would need to repeat his vows in the Land of the Living and drink from the wine of ages."

"Poison?!"

"This would stop his heart forever. Only then would he be free to give it to you."

"Oh," Juvia looked totally defeated as she let out a soft sigh, "I could never ask him." She placed her head into her palms.

"You don't have to," Gray spoke up as he walked towards her. She removed her face from her hands and looked at him with her large blue eyes, "I'll do it."

"My boy, if you choose this path, you may never return to the land above. Do you understand?" The old man asked him.

He gently took one of Juvia's hands in his own and gave her a smile, "I do." He pulled her up to her feet and she returned the smile to him.

* * *

The bride and groom were in the town square to announce the news of their wedding to everyone who was there. There was a lot of preparing that needed to be done and Gray wanted everyone to help out. They had accepted him in the second he arrived and now he wanted to make them be a part of the actual wedding that was about to take place, "gather round. Gather round, everybody." Gray motioned for everyone to come closer to himself and Juvia, who was seated on the bench that Gray was standing on, "We've decided to do this thing properly. So grab what you can and follow us, we're moving this wedding party upstairs."

"Upstairs?" Erza looked at Mira and Cana, the brunette drunkard, "he means, you know," she pointed up.

"Sounds creepy," Wendy, the small blue haired girl spoke, sounding slightly excited.

"Let's go," Romeo, the young black haired boy next to her, grabbed her hand and pulled her off to gather what they would need.

The crowd quickly disappeared, the girls dragging Juvia off to get her looking ready for her day. Gray was about to walk off but was stopped by the lone female who had stayed behind, "hold on Gray. You can't get married looking like that," Mira pointed to the rip in his jacket sleeve.

"A little stitch, a little tuck, some tender loving care," Mira pulled a spool and a needle out of the rip she had in her dress that she had turned into a pocket, "a little thread will fix you up, and I personally guarantee my quality repairs. A little here, I'll fix the mess, I'm going to do my very best. When everybody sees you they will all be quite impressed," she smiled as she finished up, "they will all be quite impressed." She looked at him as he looked over her work. She really did fix him up and his jacket looked good as new.

Gray was wandering around town to see everything getting done. He could see a gigantic cake being made in the bakery and it did look quite delicious, minus what was being put inside of it, such as dust... granted he really couldn't complain too much. He watched as Erza and another blue haired girl, Levy, placed the toppers on the cake. They must have made them because they looked exactly like Juvia and him. He smiled and he continued to wander until he bumped into the back of a man. The man turned and looked at Gray, who instantly apologized, "I'm sorry sir, I didn't mean to..." he stopped. He knew this man... "dad?" He asked cautiously.

"Gray?" The man asked.

Gray couldn't help but smile. He had been reunited with his father after all these years, "hello father."

"It's been awhile Gray. I wasn't expecting you to be the one Juvia ended up married to."

Gray sighed, "well, I was betrothed to this young lady named Lucy Heartfilia before this whole thing happened but I really didn't feel the connection with her that I do Juvia. This feels right Father, and I do hope that everything works out for the best."

"How're your mom and brother doing, Gray? I think about them a lot." The two men had began walking into the center of town, where everyone had gathered.

"They're both fine. Lyon got married three years ago but lost his wife due to an illness so he decided to come back home to mother and I."

"That's a disappointment. How do you think mom will react when she realizes that you're here?"

Gray shrugged, "not really too sure, honestly."

"Oh there she is," Lisanna smiled as she pointed to her friend.

"Here she comes," Bisca said happily as she smiled, repeating what Lisanna had said so those who hadn't heard could hear it now.

Everyone pulled their attention towards the bride as she walked down a staircase. Her veil was now back on her head and she smiled. Gray's face lit up with a smile as well when he saw her. She looked beautiful. Surge barked happily and ran in circles around Gray's feet.

* * *

Lucy was now allowed outside her room in order for her to speak with her father. The man had some stern words he wished to discuss with his daughter. Lucy was seated in front of the family's large fireplace at the dining table and her father was sitting across from her.

"Now Lucy, you do understand that you never did see a corpse, correct?" Her father asked sternly.

"But father! I did see a corpse! She came into my room, snatched Gray up in her arms, and then the two vanished. Just like that," Lucy explained. She tried so hard to convince her father that she was telling the truth no matter how crazy it sounded, and it sounded absolutely crazy.

"Enough Lucy!" He smacked a fist down on the table, "what you're telling me in nonsen-"

The fireplace behind the young girl suddenly filled with purple fire and the lights in their house flickered. Both Heartfilia's stood and looked around. And that's when they saw them. The living dead crawling out of their fire place.

"Leo! Fetch my musket!" Mr. Heartfilia yelled as loudly as he could as he ran out of the room.

"Fetch your own musket!" Leo responded back, "I'm getting out of here!" And with that, the young butler was out the front door with the maid following at his heels.

Lucy was scared as she crawled under the table that was near her in order to hide from the creatures that were now invading her home. She could hear her father's frantic yelling and his footsteps echoing throughout the halls. What drew her out from under the table was when she heard a specific name come out of someone's mouth. That's when she had decided to quickly follow behind the crowd of the walking dead throughout her home and out onto the streets of Magnolia. They were heading to the church.

* * *

Ul and Lyon were startled by the ringing of the town crier's bell and constant yelling, "THE DEAD WALK THE EARTH!" They had tried their hardest to drown out the noise, but of course it couldn't be helped.

"What on earth is that man yelling about?" Ul asked as she crossed her arms.

Lyon looked out the window and his eyes instantly widened and his jaw dropped to the floor, "mom! This is... there are dead people wandering around! Seems like they're going to the church."

"What?" The woman joined her son by the window, almost mirroring his expression, "oh my... what on earth is happening here?"

"Not too sure but I think we should go investigate. By the looks of things, it seems like three or four of these corpses are carrying what appears to be a wedding cake."

Wedding cake? Corpse? No. It just couldn't be... could it? Was young Lady Lucy telling the truth when she spoke of Gray getting married to a corpse? As much as the woman didn't want to believe that her youngest married a dead woman, it might very well be the truth if she was seeing this sight with her own two eyes.

"Come Lyon, we're following after them."

"Didn't I just say th- gah!" The woman grabbed the boy by the collar of his shirt and dragged him out their front door, nearly choking him in the process.

* * *

"Be gone, ye demons from hell!" Pastor Neekis yelled as he stood in front of the church doors, "back to the void from whence you came! You shall not enter here. Back, back!"

The corpses looked at each other and then they looked back at the Pastor before they began walking forward, "keep it down, we're in a church."

The Pastor's mouth dropped opened and all he simply did was watch as the dead walked past him and piled into the church. He was shocked.

As everyone got seated inside the church, Gray stood up in the front of the altar awaiting his bride to join him. He was nervous, but excited. During the short amount of time he had spent in the Land of the Dead, Juvia had really grown on him in a good way. Sure, he had the feeling in his chest that was making him regret leaving his mother like this but she still had Lyon around. He looked over his shoulder at his father, who gives him nothing more than a soft smile. That's when Gray's eyes met Juvia. He turned around fully to face her walking down the aisle towards him. He offered her a smile and takes her hand as she is finally closer to him.

"Dearly beloved," Elder Makarov began as he looked around the church, "and departed," he looked at Gray, "we are gathered here today to join this man and this corpse in marriage."

Ul and Lyon look around the church as they stood by the door, "Gray?" Ul asked in a slightly confused, but happy tone. There he was, standing at the front of the church by the altar surrounded by a bunch of the living dead.

"Shh, mother," Lyon placed his index finger up to his lips and motioned for her to stay quiet. The two slowly began walking into the church to see exactly what was going on.

"Gray?" Lucy's voice now echoed behind them. The two turned to see the young blonde woman following them.

"Yes," Lyon answered her. The three now stood behind a pillar in order to better see what was going on.

"Living first," Elder Makarov spoke as he pointed to Gray.

Gray turned to face Juvia, who had her usual bright smile on her face, "with this hand," Gray held his hand up, "I will lift your sorrows. You cup," he picked up the old wine flute, "will never empty. For I will be your wine."

"Now you," the Elder was referring to Juvia.

"With this hand," she lifted up her hand, just like Gray had done earlier, "I will lift your sorrows. Your cup," she lifted up the wine of ages, "for I will be... I... I will be..."

"Go on my dear," Makarov said.

"Go on Juvia, it's alright," Gray reassured her.

"I will be your wine," she finished just by hearing Gray's words. She poured the wine into his glass and then placed it back down on the table.

Gray lifted the flute up to his lips, and drank one small sip before he realized his family and Lucy standing there. He placed the glass back down on the table and ran towards them, "Lucy! Mother! Lyon!"

"Gray," Ul was happy to see him. She embraced the young man in a warm hug but quickly let him go as he started to cough violently, "Gray?"

"Mother..." he wheezed out, "I'm... I'm sorry," his coughs became more violent and he began beating on his chest. That one tiny drop that had touched his lips was what did him in. Juvia ran to his side and placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder, and another on his arm.

"Gray..." Lyon asked as he reached out a hand to help his brother.

Gray looked up. His color was now blue to match those of the corpses around him. His heart was stopped. He was now, truly, Juvia's husband.

"Oh my..." Lucy gasped out as she brought her hands up to her lips, "Gray..."

"I now pronounce you man and wife," the Elder announced, "you may now kiss your bride."

Gray couldn't help himself, he looked at Juvia and gently placed a soft kiss on her lips. It shocked his mother, his brother, and Lucy. When the two broke apart, he smiled at her before he looked at the horrified faces of his mother, brother, and Lucy.

"I am deeply sorry," he spoke to them kindly, "I realized that being with Lucy just wasn't for me. She's a very sweet girl but we're just too different. When I first met Juvia I was scared out of my mind but as I started to get to know her, I quickly realized that she was the person I needed in my life."

Lyon stared at her for a moment before something clicked inside his head, "Juvia?"

The girl nodded, "yes?" She was confused. Who exactly was this man? As she studied his face, that's when it clicked for her, "Lyon?"

Gray looked at his new wife in disbelief and then back at his brother, "wait a second you two know each other?"

Lyon nodded, "yeah. She was suppose to be my original bride before she suddenly one day vanished. That's when all the wedding plans changed and I had to marry Sherry, and don't get me wrong, she was a very sweet girl and all but I didn't feel the connection with her that I did with Juvia. Don't you remember meeting her during my wedding rehearsal?"

"I..." he studied Juvia's face, "yes."

Juvia grabbed hold on Gray's arm, "Lyon, I must confess. When I first met you I felt no connection. My eyes went towards your little brother, and I didn't even realize that it was your brother I was marrying today, for I didn't even know his name back then. I am sorry to disappoint you so."

Lyon remained silent when he heard her words. It was a blow to his heart... he had loved her deeply and to hear that she did not return his feelings... it hurt. It hurt a lot.

"Well Gray, my boy, welcome ho-" his father started, but then his eyes locked on Ul, "Ul, darling?"

"Desmond?" She asked shocked. Was this her husband? "Is.. is it really you?"

He nodded, "hello darling. Hello to you as well Lyon."

"He-hello f-father," Lyon stammered out. He couldn't manage to get the words correctly out of his mouth.

Gray stood there by his father's side and Juvia standing right behind him.

"Gray..." Lucy looked completely defeated when she looked into Gray's lifeless dark orbs. This was her worst nightmare come to life.

"Lucy I am deeply sorry but you and I... We had absolutely nothing in common. At first I thought that we could make that work but I continuously thought about it and I realized that I needed someone who had the same likes as me in my life so I had someone to talk with, someone who understands me. I do apologize for allowing you to think anything different though." Gray explained as he looked into her lively brown eyes that twinkled with sadness. He could see the tears swelling up and he hated what he had just done to her but she wasn't his happiness, or even his life. He was against the marriage to her in the first place, and marriage all together, but upon meeting Juvia, his views on everything had changed.

"I promise to take care of the boy Ul," Desmond placed a hand on his youngest's shoulder, "without this youn lady though I feel as though I wouldn't of gotten the chance to see you again." He was referring to Juvia. The blue haired young lady smiled up at her now father-in-law before she turned to look back at Lucy.

"I do apologize to you about what's happened recently," Juvia spoke to her, taking on of her hands in her own, "but I assure you that better things will come your way."

Lucy managed to give Juvia a soft smile.

"My boy, my girl," elder Makarov approached from behind, "our time here is coming to a close. We must return back to our world."

Gray and Juvia nodded. Desmond grabbed Ul's hand and planted a small chastate kiss on her knuckles, "I am sorry my fair lady but I must leave you once again but this time I get to say good bye."

Ul had a small smile on her lips as she watched her husband walk away from her, getting ready to leave once more, this time with Gray at his side. Juvia stood beside Gray, her back facing those who remained in the church. She then threw her bouquet into the air. Lucy looked up at the flowers as they grew closer to her until she realized she had caught them. They bloomed instantly at her touch, giving off a fragrance that made her smile. Juvia looked over her shoulder and gave a soft smile in everyone's direction. A cloud of purple smoke formed at everyone's feet, slowly moving itself up. Ul, Lyon and Lucy waved at those they loved disappear. They, in return, got small waves and smiles back. This would be the last time that would ever happen.

* * *

**Author's note**: I CHANGED THE ENDING! PLEASE DON'T KILL ME! I made it end how I wanted it to end. This story is now finished. It didn't get as many reviews as I was hoping but that's alright because I still had fun writing it. I understand that it was short but I didn't want it to go on forever. Anyway, I will most likely update the prequel to Spirit of Secret either next week or in two weeks, not sure yet. What would you guys like? Anyway, leave your reviews and I'll see you all again soon.


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